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Language acculturation and pediatric injury risk
David C Schwebel1, Carl M Brezausek
1Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA. schwebel@uab.edu
Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
|June 10, 2008
Summary
Acculturation, not immigrant status, is key to understanding pediatric injury risk. Children with less language acculturation in the US showed lower injury rates, suggesting cultural adaptation plays a significant role.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Injury Prevention
- Sociocultural Factors in Health
Background:
- Pediatric immigrant health is understudied despite a growing population.
- Previous research indicates lower injury risk in immigrant children, but reasons are unclear.
- Cultural acculturation is hypothesized to influence injury risk, but its combined effect with immigrant status is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the independent and combined roles of immigration and language acculturation on pediatric injury risk.
- To determine which factor, immigrant status or language acculturation, is a stronger predictor of unintentional injury.
- To explore the relationship between acculturation and injury in both children and adolescents.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of 8,526 children and 4,010 adolescents from the 2003 California Health Interview Survey.
- Utilized Poisson regression models to predict injuries requiring professional medical attention.
- Included demographic characteristics, health insurance, birthplace, and language acculturation as predictor variables.
Main Results:
- Both birthplace (immigrant status) and language acculturation were associated with pediatric injury risk.
- Language acculturation was the stronger univariate predictor of injury for both children and adolescents.
- Language acculturation was the only significant multivariate predictor of injury in both age groups.
Conclusions:
- Language acculturation appears to be a more significant factor than immigrant status alone in determining pediatric injury risk.
- Findings suggest that cultural adaptation processes, specifically language, play a protective role against unintentional injuries in children and adolescents.
- Further research is needed to explore the mechanisms behind this protective effect of acculturation.
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